All network engineers want to burn down the IPS. That's nothing new. 

Disruptions should not be common. Most modern IPS/IDS solutions are pretty good 
about minimizing the downtime. ISS stuff is pretty good about this, although 
not great.

I'd say your outsourced provider may have some issues or you need to update to 
the latest versions. 

Firmware updates should be scheduled to coincide with normal maintenance 
windows in case there is any downtime. Signature updates can also be scheduled 
for a reasonable daily or weekly window.  

Network admins will blame EVERYTHING on the IDS/IPS because it's easier for 
them to blame the IPS then for them to do their jobs. There is a possibility 
you have network infrastructure issues. You might want to consider getting a 
third party assessment of your network. That way you can get an objective 
analysis that will hold more weight with management.  

Good luck. 


Andrew Plato, CISSP, CISM, QSA
Anitian Enterprise Security 



-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On 
Behalf Of Shang Tsung
Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2011 1:53 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: IDS causing troubles

Hello,

We have the following problem. Now and then, the IDS will cause disruptions to 
the network, especially after updates. We have an IBM (ex ISS) Intrusion 
Detection System with a few network sensors and several host sensors. The IDS 
is not managed by us but we have it outsourced.

The disruptions mentioned above cause our network engineers extreme 
dissatisfaction (and anxiety) about the IDS and they would "burn the damn 
thing", if they could. We have 2 - 3 serious issues, causing downtime, per year.

My questions are:

- Are any of you experience the same issues?
- Is these disruptions common to others or should we seriously consider 
replacing the IDS and/or the outsourcing company?
- Could this be an issue with our network infrastructure?

I will appreciate any thoughts.

Thanks,
ST

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